OPERATION: Arcani
by Mentally Impaired
Summary: Sequel to Project Myth. Earth is occupied by the Covenant. Billions escaped underground in complex UNSC facility and Corporal Benedetto joins a new ONI project. UNSC forces in the neighboring galaxy tries to combat the Covenant on their own space and soil
1. Prologue

**When I first posted this chapter, its formatting was all off. This was due to the fact that for some reason I can't submit documents from Wordperfect and I had to use Wordpad, whic pretty much sucks. If you can't tell I fixed it, so it should be a lot easier to read.**

This story will focus on two different things. The first one is the adventures of Christopher Benedetto. The second is the UNSC forces fighting in the part of the Milky Way Galaxy under Covenant control. Later in the story there will be a crossover with Doom, but it will only be in several chapters at most.

What type of currency does the UNSC and the UEG use? Since I have no idea, I'm just going to make it United States currency until I find out otherwise.

Chapter 1 Prologue

**0601 Hours, November 4, 2552 (Military Calender)  
Captain Gibson's Office, the Hive, Underneath Sydney, Australia, Earth**

"Do you know why you are here Corporal Benedetto?" Captain Gibson asked.

"No sir" Chris replied.

"Three years of fighting experience. Joined the ODST right out of boot. Fought the Covenant on Coral, Ghandi II, Wisdom, Harmony and now Earth. Nothing but praise from all of your superiors. Only twenty-one years old and in top physical condition. Let me get straight to the point;

"ONI is working overtime right now to find ways to defeat the Covenant and get them off our planet. One of them is OPERATION: Arcani. Arcani were once Ancient Roman secret police who used assassination, sabotage and intelligence gathering to complete their jobs. Our Arcani, will be doing something similar. "The Covenant have over three hundred camps set up around the Earth, with at least two dozen ships that have grav lifts connected to the ground. You will be going in and either just causing some basic chaos, or setting up bombs inside these ships and bases. We'll use you to assassinate Covenant leaders, destroy patrols, sabotage Covenant vehicles, and so much more. You will also be doing various other things but that is what you will mainly be doing" Captain Gibson explained.

"That doesn't seem like something I would be able to accomplish sir" Chris said, skeptically.

"Since you haven't accepted the offer, I can't go into detail. Just know this, by the end of training you'll be to do all I mentioned and more, I can assure you of that." The Captain looked at Chris expectantly.

"I'll accept sir. It's better then sitting around here all day" Chris responded.

While the Captain knew, there wouldn't be much sitting around for the Marines and ODST in the next couple of months, he chose not to open his mouth. "Very well. If you will report here tomorrow morning at 0600, I'll bring you to get a physical and if the results are good, we'll begin your training"

* * *

**0713 Hours, November 5, 2552 (Military Calender)  
ONI Hospital, the Burrow, Series of underground cities, bunkers and tunnels on Earth, Earth**

"You are in top physical condition. I can't find anything wrong with you" The doctor finally stated.

Chris hopped of the table he was sitting on and placed his t-shirt back on. "Thank you" Chris said, making his way toward the door. 

"Hold on, I've been directed to give you these" The doctor held out tow bottles full of pills, one filled with circular pills the size of a nickel and the other filled with oval pills twice the size of Mike and Ikes.

Chris took both bottles and examined the pills inside. "What are these?"

"The circular ones are complex protein pills that you are to take everyday after you are done working out, which will be twice a day when you get your training schedule. That will increase your muscle tissue density, as well as increase bulk quicker and lower lactase recovery time. The oval ones will alter your bioelectrical nerve transduction to shield electronic transduction which will increase your reflexes, memory, creativity and intelligence." The Doctor explained.

"Wait a minute, didn't the Spartans go through something like this? And didn't half of them die?" Chris asked, his voice rising.

"The Spartans went through five processes at once, while you'll only be going through three. Instead of taking pills for the complex proteins, the proteins were injected into the bloodstream for the Spartans, which increased the risk of fatal cardiac volume increase to five percent instead of the lowly point-two percent that the pills offer. The only offside to the pills instead of the injection is that it takes longer to take effect and the muscle density increases fifty percent less then if you were injected. 

"As for the alterations to the bioelectrical nerve transduction, the Spartans underwent a procedure instead of taking pills. The pills make the alterations take place slowly and gently, while the procedure makes it go instantaneously and fatally in some cases. The pills of course only increase reflexes by a given one hundred and seventy percent, instead of the three hundred offered by the procedure. The increase in memory, creativity and intelligence differs from person to person. On the several test we've had on it, it has shown that some people who take the pills have a higher increase in all three areas then those that undergo the procedure and vice versa." The doctor finished, looking content that he was able to explain it relatively simple, instead of using all the big science words the Marine probably wouldn't understand.

"You said three processes?" Chris inquired.

"Oh right, you'll also undergo occipital capillary reversal to increase your eyesight. The only risk is blindness, but we've perfected the operation over the past few years and there is only a one in a million chance you'd go blind, which is the only risk"

"Right, I guess that's it then, I'll just be going" Chris pocketed the bottles he held in his hand and walked out of the room. It was going to be a grueling two months and a half.

* * *

59 UNSC Vessels Around the Alamo

2 Supercarriers:  
UNSC Ares  
UNSC Jupiter

6 Phoenix-class Carriers:  
UNSC Magellan  
UNSC Atlas  
UNSC Spirit of Fire  
UNSC Isis  
UNSC Bowmen  
UNSC Roc

1 Rhino-class Carrier:  
UNSC Titan

5 Marathon-class Cruisers:  
UNSC Democrat  
UNSC Zeus  
UNSC Washington  
UNSC Sun Tzu  
UNSC William Wallace

3 Halcyon-class Cruisers:  
UNSC Republic  
UNSC Lincoln  
UNSC Galahad

8 Hellenic-class Cruisers:  
UNSC Jason  
UNSC Lexington  
UNSC Artorius  
UNSC Merlin  
UNSC Austerlitz  
UNSC Tristan  
UNSC Shiloh  
UNSC Concord

6 Armstrong-class Destroyers  
UNSC Heracles  
UNSC Shawnee  
UNSC Sumo  
UNSC Osiris  
UNSC Apollo  
UNSC Manifest Destiny

5 Heracles-class Destroyers:  
UNSC Iroquois  
UNSC Resolute  
UNSC Anubis  
UNSC Pioneer  
UNSC Poseidon

6 Keyes-class Destroyers:  
UNSC Jacob Keyes  
UNSC Mayan  
UNSC Seneca  
UNSC Triarii  
UNSC Hastati  
UNSC Principes

9 Loki-class Frigates:  
UNSC Commonwealth  
UNSC Gorgon  
UNSC Meriwether Lewis  
UNSC Alliance  
UNSC Darius  
UNSC Scipio  
UNSC Cortez  
UNSC Paladin  
UNSC Thunderbird

5 Thor-class Frigates:  
UNSC Allegiance  
UNSC Midsummer Night  
UNSC Alexander  
UNSC Grant  
UNSC Lee

3 Mako-class Corvettes:  
UNSC Hoplite  
UNSC Hammurabi  
UNSC Barrier Reef

Supercarriers(3.12 km)- UNSC powerhouse that was put into production at the start of the Covenant war. Seven in total were made and four of them were destroyed. Slowest moving out of all UNSC class vessels, but packs the biggest punch. Extremely long, not very high. Capable of carrying a small division of Marines and about one hundred transports. Also capable of holding ten squadrons of Longswords.  
Supercarrier Armaments- Five MAC guns. Five Shiva Nuclear-tipped missiles. 40 Archer Missile Pods, 200 missiles each. A hundred 50mm MLA autocannons for point defense. Four meters of Titanium-A plating.

Phoenix-class Carrier(2.27 km)- Mobile Base of Operations. Almost useless in fights against the Covenant. Weren't made to engage in fights but to support ground operations. Capable of carrying small division and about one hundred transports. Also capable of holding ten squadrons of Longswords.  
Phoenix-class Carriers Armaments- One MAC gun. One Shiva Nuclear-tipped missile. 20 Archer Missile Pods, 100 missiles each. Seventy 50mm MLA autocannons for point defense. One meter of Titanium-A plating

Rhino-class Carrier(2.31km)- UNSC's newest powerhouse. Supposedly capable of going head-to-head with Covenant assault carrier but seeing as how only one has been made, unlikely to be tested. Was going to be classified a Supercarrier, but its size prevented Highcom from doing so. Can carry two small brigades of Marines and about eighty transports  
Rhino-class Carrier Armaments- Three MAC guns. Focal Star Energy(FSE). Three NOVAs. 70 Archer Missile Pods, one hundred missiles each. Seventy 50mm MLA autocannons for point defense. Two meters of Tungsten plating, plus foot of diamond

Marathon-class Cruiser(1.53 km)- First UNSC powerhouse to be built with about thirty being made. Thought to be all the UNSC needed to control its space before the Covenant came along, now only half a dozen or so are left. Can carry one regiment of Marines and about fifty transports. Also supports four squadrons of Longswords  
Marathon-class Cruiser Armaments- Four MAC guns. 30 Archer Missile Pods, 100 missiles each. Three Shiva Nuclear-Tipped Missiles. Sixty 50mm MLA autocannons for point defense. 4 meters of Titanium-A plating

Halcyon-class Cruiser(1.17 km)- Too expensive to make in bulk, the UNSC disbanded the manufacturing of this class of cruiser, with only nine being made. After being pulled from storage and revamped during the Covenant war, the Halcyon-class became one of the best against the Covenant due to its resilience. Only four left in the UNSC fleet. Can carry one regiment of Marines and about fifty transports. Also supports four squadrons of Longswords  
Halcyon-class Cruiser Armaments- One MAC gun capable of firing three shredder rounds with one charge. 26 Archer Missile Pods, 40 missiles each. Two Shiva Nuclear-tipped Missiles. Fifty-five 50mm MLA autocannons for point defense. Honeycombed and cross-bracing structure, plus two meters of Titanium-A plating

Hellenic-class Cruiser(1.39 km)- Newest of the Cruiser class designs, put into production ten years into the Human-Covenant War. A combination of the Marathon and Halcyon class Cruisers. Can carry one regiment of Marines and about fifty transports. Also supports four squadrons of Longswords  
Hellenic-class Cruiser Armaments- 3 MAC guns. 30 Archer Missile Pods, 50 missiles each. Two Shiva Nuclear-tipped Missiles. Sixty 50mm MLA autocannons for point defense. 3 meters of Titanium-A plating and honeycombed and cross-bracing structure around critical parts, i.e. bridge and engines

Armstrong-class Destroyer(485 m)- Built in the early 2400's to help handle the Nazi Resurgence Rebellion in the Outer Colonies. Very angular looking with bulky frame. Old weapons replaced by newer, more efficient designs. Carries up to one large battalion of Marines, thirty transports and two squadrons of Longswords  
Armstrong-class Destroyer Armaments- Two MAC guns. Three Shiva Nuclear-tipped Missiles. 30 Archer Missile Pods with 30 missiles each. Forty 50mm MLA autocannons for point defense. One and a half meters of Titanium-A plating

Heracles-class Destroyer(485 m)- Made at the start of the Human-Covenant War. Sleeker looking then the Armstrong-class. Fifteen percent faster then the Armstrong-class as well. Carries up to one large battalion of Marines, thirty transports and two squadrons of Longswords  
Heracles-class Destroyer Armaments- Two MAC guns. Three Shiva Nuclear-tipped Missiles. 30 Archer Missile Pods with 30 missiles each. Forty-five 50mm MLA autocannons for point defense. Two meters of Titanium-A plating

Keyes-class Destroyer(493 m)- Put into production several weeks after the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV. Longer and sleeker looking then the Heracles-class, it is also faster by ten percent. Contains the newest Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine, which allows a ship to exit slipspace exactly where it wants to. Carries up to one large battalion of Marines, thirty transports and two squadrons of Longswords.  
Keyes-class Destroyer Armaments- Two MAC guns. Three Shiva Nuclear-tipped Missiles. 30 Archer Missile Pods with 30 missiles each. Forty-five 50mm MLA autocannons for point defense. Two meters of Titanium-A plating

Loki-class Frigate(478 m)- One of two types of frigates that have been in production since the UNSC started settling the Outer Colonies. The Loki-class can hold an average size company of Marines, eight transports and three squadrons of Longswords.  
Loki-class Frigate Armaments- One MAC gun. Three Shiva Nuclear-tipped Missiles. 26 Archer Missile Pods, 30 missiles each. 30 50mm MLA autocannons for point defense. 1.2 meters of Titanium-A plating

Thor-class Frigate(478 m)- One of two types of frigates that have been in production since the UNSC started settling the Outer Colonies. The Thor-class can hold a large size company of Marines, ten transports and one squadron of Longswords  
Thor-class Frigate Armaments- One MAC gun. Three Shiva Nuclear-tipped Missiles. 26 Archer Missile Pods, 30 missiles each. 30 50mm MLA autocannons for point defense. 1.2 meters of Titanium-A plating

Mako-class Corvette(203 m)- Smallest and fastest used by the UNSC in combat. Never before used in combat until the Human-Covenant War. Before war primarily used as scout ships, now mostly used against enemy fightercrafts, Seraphs. Though they can be used to pound Covenant warships whose shields have just been knocked out. Squad of Marines and one Pelican  
Mako-class Corvette Armaments- 10 Archer Missile Pods, 30 missiles each. 30 Moray Space mines. 10 50mm MLA autocannons for point defense. One meter of Titanium-A plating.


	2. ONI’s Bitch

Chapter 2 ONI's Bitch

**0934 Hours, December 25, 2552 (Military Calender) **

**Sahara Desert, Libya, Africa, Earth **

"I can see the tip of the ship from here" Chris stated, his foot press down on the brake of the Warthog in order to prevent the vehicle from rolling backwards down the steep dune.

"Roger that." an ONI specialist replied. "Park the Warthog and proceed on foot"

Chris put the Warthog's emergency brakes on. "Merry fucking Christmas to me" Chris muttered, hopping out of the vehicle and scrambling up the large dune.

UNSC scanners had detected a large ship of unknown origin exiting slipspace about three hours ago. Tracking the ships trajectory, it was found that the ship was landing in the Sahara.

And who did they decide was going to go gather information on this new ship? Why Master Sergeant Christopher Benedetto, ONI's personal bitch. Sometimes Chris wondered if the extra training, biological enhancements, new armor, shit load of guns and promotion in rank were worth jumping when ONI told him to.

The Arcani uniform was similar to the ODST. The only difference between an Arcani body suit and an ODST body suit was that the Arcani body suit's material was more resilient to plasma, the entire body suit was black and the visor was a dull grey. Well, that and the high tech sensor jamming equipment built into his belt. And the active camouflage system built into the entire suit, which though making the user appear invisible, only lasted for two minutes. Oh yeah, can't forget the fact that the helmet was capable of storing an A.I. in it, as well as housing high tech sensors. Ok, so the two body suits only had the same design in common.

Chris had to admit, he looked like a bad ass. The fact that he had nine guns on him, probably made him look more like a bad ass. Two silenced M6C Magnums were strapped into ankle holsters. A pair of silenced Uzis were strapped to his thighs. A M6F PS Pistol (powerful pistols used by Centaurs in the Myth Platoon) was holstered to his belt. Hanging from a dual-shoulder holster were two silenced M6D HE Pistol. Clutched tightly into his hand was a trusty silenced MA5B Assault Rifle with a 5x zoom scope and strapped to his back was a sawed-off M90 Shotgun.

"Sparrow I've got the ship in sight" Chris said into his radio as soon as he came to the top of the hill. He got down into a prone position, and activated the binoculars in his HUD.

"Roger that Arcani 1, we see" the ONI spook, designated "Sparrow" responded. It was a both a blessing and curse having a camera in his HUD that allowed ONI to see what he saw.

Chris looked at the large triangular looking ship that was landing in front of him. He prayed to god whatever was on it was human friendly. He'd hate to see the species that traveled on a ship three times the size of a Covenant assault carrier.

The ship blew sand through the air, the small size pieces of fine rock particles swirling around in an intricate dance. The swirling sand reached high in the air, but did nothing to cover up the large silver spire that rose from the middle of the ship and that appeared to touch the sky.

As the ship touched the ground, its engines were cut off and the large cloud of sand floated to the ground. A large piece of metal popped open from the side and fell down to the ground, forming a ramp and sending another large cloud of sand flying into the air.

Flashes of blue, red and green could be seen coming from the ramp. Chris increased the magnification on his binoculars and focused on the flashes of light.

"Sparrow, there is a Spartan coming off the ship. Engaged in heavy combat with Covenant forces." Chris stated urgently into his radio.

"Roger that Arcani 1. You have new orders. You are to go in and retrieve that Spartan immediately." Sparrow ordered.

They didn't need to tell Chris twice. Getting up from his position, the Arcani raised back down the dune to the parked Warthog. Jumping into the driver seat, he punched the ignition button, flicked the drive switch and slammed on the accelerator.

The Warthog's wheels spun quickly in the sand, trying to pick up some form of traction. It took several seconds of useless spinning before the front right tire gained some traction and jerkingly started the vehicle forward. Gaining speed, the Warthog tore up the dune, gaining some air as it reached the top.

The Warthog kicked up mouthfuls of sand as it flew down the dune, going faster then Chris had ever seen one go in his entire life. It took him almost two minutes to get within firing range of the fighting Brutes and Spartan.

Slowing the vehicle down, Chris quickly took his foot of the brake and jumped from the vehicle. He swung his rifle into his hands and opened fire, riddling a Brute with bullets before hitting the ground and rolling.

Coming up from his roll, Chris shot a trio of bullets into the back of a Brutes head. The large creature tipped forward, crushing the Jackal who stood in front of the beast.

"Master Chief sir!" Chris said, his HUD identifying the rank of the Spartan in front of him. "I've been ordered to bring you to safety!"

Chris finished his clip off killing a pair of Drones. Letting his now empty rifle fall, barely feeling the pull on his shoulder as the rifle's strap prevented the gun from falling to the ground, Chris withdrew the powerful pistol at his hip. He raised the heavy pistol up, supporting it with two hands. Aiming at a Brute, he pulled the trigger, punching large, bloody holes into the chest of the Brute Captain.

The Master Chief looked at the ODST soldier who had come roaring in, driving a Warthog. He nodded his head at the Marine, before back pedaling away from the dozen or so Brutes that fired at him. Plasma splattered against his shields, and a warning signal started to beep in the Spartans ears. Plasma splashed across the exposed armor, melting the green colored metal and charring it black.

Chris side-armed a grenade, the device soaring through the air before hitting a Brute in its burly chest and falling to the ground. The massive beast tried to jump out of the frags range, but was caught in the concussion blast. The Brute was lifted off of its feet and thrown backwards, knocking into several other Brutes and disrupting their line of fire.

The Spartan turned around and broke out into an all out run. The heavily armored firgure slid into the passengers seat, and turned to fire at the Covenant again. Chris moved around the front of the vehicle and climbed into the drivers seat.

Gunning the engine, he kicked up tons of sand before the Warthog began to tear across the desert. The Warthog struggled to climb the steep slope of the dune, Chris going back the way he came.

"A lot has happened since you left. The Covenant have taken control of the planet and are looking for something. About half of the population was killed and the rest of us are living underground, trying to take back our planet by wearing down the Covenant" Chris explained.

Before the Master Chief could answer, burst of plasma collided with the sand around them. Glancing over their shoulders, the two men could see half a dozen Ghosts giving chase. The Spartan stood up and climbed over the back of the seat and got onto the gun.

The large turret thundered to life, riddling one of the Ghost with dozens of bullets in several seconds. A lucky bullet tore through the Brute pilot's eye, killing the Brute and sending the Ghost tumbling back down the dune.

The LAAG spit out hundreds of bullets which punctured both the armor of the Ghosts and the thick hide of the Brutes. The Spartan was able to hold the gun steady, even with all the bouncing the Warthog did. Soon there was just a trail of destroyed Ghost and dead Brutes.

**

* * *

1123 Hours December 26, 2552 (Military Calender)**

**Rainforest, Asia, Earth**

The Covenant patrol walked slowly through the forest. Two blue Elites in the front, followed by six Grunts and two Jackals with three Brutes bringing up the rear. The jungle's high trees and thick branches blocked out most of the sunlight, leaving the area bathed in grey.

"Curse this retched planet" The Brute captain snarled in Jiralhanae while slapping a mosquito that was on his large bicep. "I can not wait until we plasma-bombard this filthy place"

"This planet has been specifically mentioned hundreds of times by the Forerunners in the artifacts we've found! The Prophets would not dream of doing that to such a holy place, no matter how much the humans have defiled it" One of the Elite answered back, speaking in his own native tongue.

The Brute only snarled in response as they started to walk by a swamp, hundreds of tiny bugs swarming over its surface.

Suddenly a fiery blast filled the air. The two Elites were thrown like rag dolls, their burnt bodies falling into the murky water. Something rose swiftly and quietly out of the war. The muffled cough of an assault rifle filled the air as sixty-rounds slammed into the Grunts. Six lifeless bodies fell to the ground.

The thing in the swamp descended back under the water, leaving the plasma flying from the Brutes and Jackals ineffective. Growling, the Brutes started to backpedal, sweeping their guns over the entire swamp. Another fiery blast filled the air as the three Brutes were tossed high up, only to come crashing back down.

The two Jackals, all that remained of the Covenant patrol, looked around them in a panic. Their squad of eleven others had just been wiped out in thirty seconds. Quick as lightning, something jumped out of the water, grabbed onto one of the Jackals feet and dragged the bird-like being into the water. The loud fear filled squawks of the Jackal were cut off as water filled its mouth and lungs.

The last Jackal flipped out and started to run, only to have a bullet pierce the back of its skull. The momentum of the Covenant scout carried its body forward some, before it hit the ground.

Chris let the MA5B hang at his side, satisfied with his work. That was one less squad of Covenant bastards on Earth. Now on to his real objective.

Before Chris could take a step forward, a loud growl filled the air. Looking at the source of the sound, Chris saw the Brute captain was still very much alive. Looking a hell of a lot worse for wear, but still a live. The Brute took a menacing step forward before something big and hairy landed on its back.

At first Chris thought it was another Brute, only to recognize it as a gorilla. The Brute shoved the ape off of it and the two beast size each other up. The gorilla stood at its full height, a little bit under six feet, but was probably packing over six hundred pounds, most of it muscle. The Brute was a good two feet taller, at an imposing eight feet and probably packed a hundred more pounds maybe a little bit more.

The two beast charged at each other, their hands gripping together with each one battling for supremacy. The wounds on the Brute seemed to do little in affecting the way the alien fought. After almost a minute, the Brute seemed to finally start over powering the gorilla. A smug and vicious look came upon the Brute's face as the gorilla started to lose more and more ground in the battle.

Chris raised his gun and put six bullets into the left arm of the Brute. The alien roared in pain, and the gorilla used it to its advantage. Pushing the Brute's arms all the way back, the gorilla quickly let go of the Brute's hands and picked the beast up. Lifting the alien over its head, the ape tossed the ape-like creature into a tree. Then rushing over, the gorilla pounded the Brutes chest several times before no more movement was seen from the Brute.

Then the gorilla turned to Chris. The Arcani took off his helmet and stared at the creature that had helped him. The gorilla gave the human a hard look for several seconds before walking away.

When humans started settling other worlds, one of the first things they did was to give back some of the Earth to the animals. There was even a planet, several thousand light years into the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy that was home to every animal on Earth. The planet was twice the size of Earth and had the exact same climates, with its atmosphere being made up of more oxygen and less nitrogen. Of course there were a dozen or so research facilities to monitor everything. Mostly humans were curious to see what Earth would of been like if humans had never come into existence, and this was their way of trying to test that hypothesis.

They weren't just fighting for their own lives. Every time humans lost a battle and a planet was glassed, every animal on the planet was killed. It wasn't just humans dying from the hands of the Covenant. It was also trillions of animals, who couldn't defend themselves from the Covenant.

Putting his helmet back on, Chris walked over to the Brutes dead body. He dragged the deceased Brute to the swamp and tossed it's body into the murky water, doing the same with the rest of the Covenant patrol. Once done, he walked over to a large plant. Pushing aside several of the large leaves, the Master Sergeant reached forward and pulled out a black duffel bag.

"Proceed half a mile the same way the Covenant patrol came from" Sparrow said into his ear. "The ODST snipers will be in place in three minutes and thirty-two seconds"

"Roger that" Chris replied, setting off in a jog.

By the time he reached the end of the jungle, the Covenant task force was easily spotted. With almost a hundred Ghost, a score of Wraiths, six dozen Spectres, almost two hundred Shadows and several dozen Banshees flying overhead, it was kind of hard to miss.

Chris placed the duffle bag down and pulled on the black zipper. Opening the bag, Chris reached forward and pulled out a mini-Robotic Rover. Sitting on top of the mini-Robotic Rover was a large EMP bomb.

"Forward" Chris stated, pointing the rover toward the Covenant position.

The tiny robot started to roll forward at a pace of ten miles per hour. Chris had upgraded it from its original speed of three miles per hour in order to make it farther into the Covenant line before being stopped. Zooming in with the binoculars in his HUD, Chris tracked the rover's progress.

The Covenant didn't notice the little robot until it was almost in the middle of their group. When one of them made a move to it, Chris pressed the activation button. The small EMP bomb went off, frying the system of every vehicle, both human and Covenant, within a two mile radius. That included underground.

Without their systems working the several dozen banshees plunged to the earth, crashing and burning as they slammed into the ground. Hulls bent and crunched together, making most of the Banshees resembling accordions.

Chris reached back into the black duffel bag and pulled out a grenade launcher. Inside the clip was eight nitrous oxide gas grenades. Both the Brutes and the Elites were easily knocked out by the laughing gas. That was due to the fact that Elites and Brutes were similar to humans in the air they breathed and the blood that flowed through their veins. Human blood was red due to the iron in their hemoglobin. Elite blood was purple do to the nickel in their blood, while Brute blood contained an element not known to humans.

Moving closer, Chris aimed the launcher up into the air and pulled the trigger. Shifting the gun to the left or right, and aiming it higher or lower, Chris fired the remaining seven grenades and watched as large pockets of Elites and Brutes fell to the ground unconscious.

Dropping the launcher, and lifting his Assault Rifle up, Chris used the zoom to pick off several off the remaining Covenant. The cracks of several sniper rifles filled the air as Grunt, Jackal and Drone bodies fell to the ground with bullet holes in their heads, chest and necks.

It didn't take long for the remaining Covenant to be picked off. All that remained were several petrified Grunts and about a hundred knocked out Elites and Brutes. Ten ODST snipers stepped out of the forest canopy, joining Chris as he walked toward the destroyed Covenant task force.

"Sparrow, call in the evac" Chris stated.

"Roger that"

* * *

**Third Unit of the Fourth Cycle, Tenth Multi-Cycle, Ninth Age of Reclamation **

**Human Home World (Earth), Highly Sacred Forerunner Planet (Home of the Ark?)**

"Heretics seek to spread lies about the Covenant. Nothing but blasphemy and heresy come from their mouths as they try to split apart our great Covenant. The Sangheili have been and always will be the arms of the Prophets. Though competent in their own right, the Jiralhanae will never take the place of the Sangheili as our protectors. Two mistakes, no matter how large they are, do not wipe a thousand years of loyalty by the Sangheili out of our minds. The Covenant has grown bigger and stronger under the military leadership of the Sangheili. Never will the Prophets make such a mistake as replacing the Sangheili" Truth signaled for the Jiralhanae to cancel the transmission. The message was being broadcasted to every Covenant ship and planet.

"My people do not like this latest move by the Prophets your Hierarch. To lift us above the Sangheili for several glorious cycles only to cast us back down is like a slap in the face" The Jiralhanae growled.

"Be patient Bracktanus. The events at the second Halo have shown me something. Together, the Sangheili and humans were able to prevent the Great Journey. If we were to cast out the Sangheili there is always a chance they could ally with the humans, which will only work against us. I rather keep the events at High Charity secret, but since I can't, declaring that it is lies spoken by Heretics is the only thing that will keep the rest of the Covenant from splintering like they did at High Charity. For the Unggoy and Lekgolo to side with the Sangheili like that is as treacherous as the Sangheili in their constant questioning of the Prophets and it is something I didn't predict when deciding to cast out the Sangheili. This war with the humans will come to an end soon and then we can finally cast out the Sangheili from our great Covenant. And if the Unggoy and Lekgolo wish to follow them to their doom then so be it. The Jiralhanae, Kig-yar, Yanme'e and Sharquoi will be more then enough to handle them"

A Brute quickly rushed into the room. "Forgive the intrusion your Hierarch, but Recon Force Justice has disappeared!"

"What do you mean disappeared?" Truth snarled.

"There is no trace of them my lord! They aren't answering our calls and when we sent several scouts to the area they found only the smattering of some Unggoy blood and a small piece of a vehicles hull."

"Humans" The Prophet snarled. "I want those filth and their little holes found now!"

* * *

Horseshow crabs have blue blood because instead of iron based blood like humans, they have copper based blood. 


	3. UNSC Offensive

Obviously the calenders and day spans are different from planet to planet. The Military uses Earth standard time. For them a day is 24 hours, not however long it takes the planet to spin on its axis. A year is 365 days a year, not however long it takes a planet to orbit its star(s).

Chapter 3 UNSC Offensive

**0601 Hours, December 27, 2552 (Military Calender)**

**Exact Location Unknown, the Burrow, series of Underground bunkers, tunnels and cities, Earth**

"Haven't seen you in a while" Mikey stated simply as Chris walked up to him.

"Almost two months" Chris agreed, watching as more and more ODST filled the room.

"You look different" Mikey noted.

"I'm glad you noticed" Chris said in a high pitched voice, fluttering his eyes at his long time friend.

"Not like that you fag" Mikey said, scowling.

"You should respect your superiors" Chris tapped his badge.

"No god damn way. A fucking Master Sergeant in two months? How the fuck did you pull that off?" Mikey asked, eyes wide.

"My dashing good looks and superior charm of course" Chris replied.

"Good looks and charms my ass" a new voice said flatly.

"And what a nice ass it is Dominique" Chris replied, turning to the good looking brunette.

"Don't talk about my ass. It's creepy enough I catch you staring at it" Dominique said.

"Right..." Mikey looked around the room awkwardly for several seconds. "You know why we were called here?" Mikey asked.

"Yup. You'll find out in a minute though" Chris answered.

"And you can't even tell me?" Mikey questioned, looking hurt.

"Like another minute would kill you" Chris answered.

"It might" Mikey responded. "Did you ever think about that?"

"If it kills you, you can haunt me when you die" Chris promised.

"I'll hold you to that" Mikey warned.

"Officer on deck!" Captain Gibson walked into the small room and looked at the twenty-three ODST and one Arcani in front of him, all saluting him. Behind the Captain was an ODST Major and a Navy Lieutenant.

"At ease." All twenty-four Marines Special Forces put down their arms, though still standing at rigid attention. "Two days ago Master Chief Spartan-117 returned from Beta Halo. The Master Chief told us that he left behind A.I. Cortana, the smartest A.I. humans have ever created, to blow up the UNSC destroyer _In Amber Clad_ incase the firing of Halo wasn't stopped. After interrogating several Grunt prisoners we have learned that the firing of the ring was stopped by several humans and Covenant separatists. This still leaves Cortana on the Covenant orbital city which has been overrun by Flood.

"Your mission is to retrieve Cortana. If that is not possible, then you are to delete her. Incase she makes this difficult, we've developed a virus to shut her down, that you just have to install into the Covenant system. We also want you to plant a NOVA to blow up this orbital city. We can't allow the Flood to spread. Major Rico will be the Commanding Officer during this mission and Lieutenant Rivers will be getting you there on this.."

The back wall moved shifted away to reveal a hangar. Inside the hangar was a small ONI prowler.

"The _Night Crawler_ is the stealthiest ship we have. If this can't get you pass the Covenant ships, nothing can" Captain Gibson looked at the ship in something akin to pride. "You leave in an hour. The journey should take two weeks"

* * *

**2012 Hours, January 2, 2553 (Military Calender)**

**Cryo-Chamber A, UNSC Keyes-class Destroyer, the _Aztec, _Slipspace**

"Plato, why am I being awoken out of cryo-sleep four months early?" Captain Lewis asked, sitting up and coughing up the bronchial surfactant still stuck in his throat. After hacking the slimy substance onto the floor, the Captain stood from his sitting position and stepped out of the tube, careful not to step on the stuff he just spit out.

"While traveling through slipspace we came upon a rip in the space already there. Riding through this rip has greatly decreased the resistance against the ship while traveling and has reduced are time greatly" Plato explained calmly.

"Where did you come upon this rip?" Lewis asked.

"By Earth sir. Most likely Covenant reinforcements from the military academy we seek to destroy. I have alerted the _Atom_ and the _Dawn of Heaven _of are soon to be early arrival. The _Atom_ A.I. sent a message to the Security Committee a week ago, and it should reach the _Alamo_ when we exit slipspace in six hours, ten minutes and twenty-nine seconds." Plato stated.

"Very well. Wake up the rest. Start with my command crew and work your way down to the Marines" the Captain ordered, walking toward the shower.

* * *

**0215 Hours, January 3, 2553 (Military Calender) **

**Bridge of UNSC Keyes-class Destroyer, the _Aztec_, Slipspace**

"MAC guns are hot sir." Ensign Williams called out.

"Good. Remove the safeties on one of the nukes and all of the Archer Missile Pods. Plato, when we arrive out of slipspace, what will be our formation?"

"The _Dawn of Heaven_ will emerge directly behind us, while the _Atom_ will arrive a little farther back and to the right of us" Plato answered immediately.

"Chief Petty Officer Jones, as soon as we exit slipspace, I want you to engage one of our starboard emergency thrusters to shift us quickly to the left."

"Vice Admiral Andersen is requesting to be patched through" Ensign Leery said.

"Patch him through then!" Captain Lewis replied.

"Captain, I hope your weapons are hot" The Vice Admiral drawled, his head floating in the holotank.

"Of course sir. MAC guns are at one hundred percent" The Captain answered.

"Good. When we exit slipspace, we are going to have to do this carefully. We have to identify our two biggest threats and eliminate them right of the bat. You and Captain Rasmusen will take out the weaker one, and I'll take out the stronger one. Arm one of your Longswords with a Shiva, and hopefully we can hit them again before they get over their shock and start firing back" The Vice Admiral's face disappeared from the holotank.

"Exiting slipspace in three minutes sir" Plato informed him.

"Everyone get ready! Plato give me a count down when we reach thirty seconds, also tell First Lieutenant Jackson to arm his Longsword with a nuke and to prepare to launch" Captain Lewis ordered.

Two minutes and twenty-five seconds went by before Plato gave his answer. "Thirty, twenty-nine, twenty-eight, twenty-seven, twenty-six, twenty-five, twenty-four" Chief Petty Officer Jones let out a nervous cough, as he wrung his hands together. "Twenty-three, twenty-two, twenty-one, twenty, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen, sixteen, fifteen, fourteen, thirteen, twelve, eleven, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one"

As soon as they entered normal space, Jones activated one of the emergency thrusters on the starboard side. The ship lurched to the left quickly as the _Dawn of Heaven_ entered space right behind them. By the time the _Atom _arrived, Plato had already identified the two biggest threats.

"Covenant supercruiser and battlecruiser, both dead ahead" Plato informed him.

"Fire on that battlecruiser!"

The two MAC guns fired, the ship shuttering as the heavy tungsten rounds were accelerated to forty percent the speed of light. The three shredder rounds of the _Dawn of Heaven_, smaller in size, joined the two heavier MAC rounds.

The five rounds flew at the seemingly dead ship. The first round slammed right into the nose, no shield was in place to protect the ship. The round buried itself in the nose, concaving the bow. The second heavy round, hit right below the first one, further destroying the bow of the ship. The bow seemed to bend in on itself, before exploding in a shower of purple fragments, leaving most of the front half of the ship destroyed. The smaller, three shredder round, hit in various places on the port side of the ship, blowing huge chunks of armor off of the ship and burying themselves deep inside.

The_ Atom_, had slammed its five MAC rounds into five different locations on the port side of its ship. Two of the MAC rounds had exited from the other side of the ship, and flashes of blue light could be seen littering every inch of the supercruiser, as it slowly tore itself up.

"The rest of the Covenant fleet, coming around the planet now. Their shields are up and their charging their plasma turrets. We were lucky to catch these two unprepared, we aren't lucky this time" Plato warned.

"What's the status on our MAC cannons?"

"Thirty percent and rising at a rate of one percent per second sir" Ensign Williams answered.

"Tell the Longswords to launch. Tell the First Lieutenant I want him to send the Covenant our gift" Captain Lewis commanded.

"Squadron away" Plato announced. "Covenant fleet rounding planet now. Vice Admiral Andersen sent a message to the Covenant."

The voice of the Vice Admiral filled the bridge. "I hope your other planet's defenses are as weak as this one. If so then our attack forces will have easy time taking your planets"

"It is a nice tactic. Now the Covenant will think we are attacking their others planets and will be too afraid to send reinforcements from around here" Plato commended.

"Sir, increase in beta particles from the battle cruiser! It's still operational!" Ensign Leery exclaimed loudly.

"Launch one of our remaining nukes at it. Take it out of this fight before it can get a shot off" the Captain ordered.

"Shiva away sir. Impact in thirty-seconds" Ensign William replied.

Five Covenant destroyers and three frigates came into view, their plasma turrets glowing red. The Longswords were closing in on the Covenant ships quickly. There was 18 squadrons of Longswords out there. Pulse lasers shot out from the Covenant ships, burning five of the Longswords.

The turrets of the wounded battlecruiser started to glow red. A large blast of light lit the screen as the launched Shiva detonated. The blast didn't lost for nearly as long as it would if it had exploded on a planet, but its result were still destructive. The Covenant battlecruiser was nothing but purple shards floating through space.

The attention was turned back to the rest of the Covenant fleet, where tear-drop Seraph fighters swarmed out of the Covenant capitol-ships. Suddenly the Longswords pulled up and started flying back the way they came. More pulse lasers were fired, as the Seraphs took off in pursuit and seven Longswords burst into flame.

Three new suns appeared on the view screen as three Shiva Nuclear-tipped missiles blew up in the middle of the Covenant formation.

"Launch Archer Missile Pods A to I at one of those frigates and J to R at another" Lewis ordered.

When the light receded the Covenant formation didn't look so good. The destroyer in the middle of the formation had been hit by one of the missiles, and was close enough so that the blast from the two other nukes hit it as well. Its port and starboard sides were stripped of armor and all of its decks were exposed. One of the other destroyed that were hit by the nuke, was missing a large chunk out of its starboard side. The rest of the ships appeared to be fine, but without shields and now they only had to face seven enemy vessels.

Longswords and Seraph fighters battled it out in intense swordfights between the opposing fleets. The Seraphs, more numerous and defended by shields, were evenly matched against the less, yer more heavily armed Longswords. Tiny explosions littered the black spaced as the human and Covenant fightercrafts swarmed around each other like angry bees.

The Covenant warships released their plasma torpedoes, which shot at the three UNSC vessels. The hundreds of Archer missiles that were shot from the _Aztec, _as well as those from the other two ships, slammed into the various Covenant destroyers. Jagged holes were torn into the armor and on one of the destroyers, two of its plasma turrets were destroyed.

Two of the plasma torpedoes appeared to be coming right for the _Aztec_.

"MAC cannon is hot sir!" Ensign Williams called out.

"Fire it at one of those destroyers!" The Captain snapped. The two heavy MAC rounds flew from the ship. The other two UNSC vessels fired their MAC rounds as well, a hundred or so Archer missiles soaring after them.

"Plasma collision in five seconds sir! Four, three..."

"Fire the top emergency thrusters!" The Captain was thrown out of his seat, as the ship quickly lurched downward. The two blobs of plasma flew over the ship, continued on its path for several seconds before making a lazy turn.

"Bring the engines up to one hundred percent. Bring us to course zero three six point one nine" Captain Lewis ordered.

"Roger that, course zero three six point one nine" Chief Petty Officer Jones repeated. "Left flank of Covenant formation"

The first of the _Aztec_'s MAC rounds slammed into the destroyer, midline. The shields, freshly recharged, held against the first round, but they quickly failed as the second round punched into them. The 3,000 ton MAC round cut through the side of the ship, right near the engines. The destroyer mushroomed, a fireworks show of shrapnel and sparks.

"Plasma torpedoes matching our velocity...they're going faster then us sir. Collision in thirty-five seconds" Lieutenant Richards yelled.

The other MAC rounds hit, along with the Archer missiles. The shields protected against some of the attack but in the end two more ships, a destroyer and frigate, were completely out of the fight and another frigate was moving slowly away from the battle. Now their was only two destroyers and a frigate left to fight.

"Increase engines to one hundred and fifty percent. Have you guys studied the Keyes Loop?" Captain Lewis asked, looking at his crew. "Unless we jump system those torpedoes will follow us until we can't run anymore. We'll make the torpedoes hit them instead and take out two birds with one stone"

"Sir, increase in beta particle radiation. They're charging their plasma turrets again." Ensign Leery warned.

"Increase the engines to one hundred and eighty percent. Bring us to bearings zero one eight point six two. Declination zero one three point nine seven. Ready new course correction zero one three point eight nine" Captain Lewis ordered.

"Aye sir, zero one eight point six two, declination zero one three point nine seven" Chief Petty Officer Jones said.

"Collision with Covenant destroyer in thirteen seconds. Collision with plasma torpedoes twenty-one seconds" Lieutenant Richards called out. "Collision with Covenant destroyer in six seconds"

"Sound the collision alarm!" The Captain shouted. The loud wail of the klaxons filled the bridge seconds before the lower part of the ship scraped the top part of the Covenant vessel. Sparks flew as metal scraped against metal. "Course correction now!"

"Aye sir!"

There was change in the thrusters as the _Aztec_ nudged downward. The view screen that showed the stern's camera, showed the two plasma torpedoes hit the Covenant destroyer, one after the other. The shields were already brought down by the collision of the two ships and the two plasma torpedoes boiled away the purple armor of the vessel, leaving a large, gaping wound in its side.

"Hull breaches on levels 1-12 from the collision. Venting sections now"

"Fire the remainder of our Archer Missile Pods!" The Captain shouted.

"Aye sir" Ensign William punched several buttons on his council.

The Captain watched as the remaining three hundred and twenty missiles slammed into the destroyer beneath it. Most collided into the gaping hole, making the hole larger and deeper. Others collided with intact armor, and tore more holes into the purple hull.

Captain Lewis smirked slightly as the Covenant destroyer burned, listed and drifted away, dead in space.

"What is the status of the other two Covenant vessels?" Captain Lewis asked.

"Plasma torpedo launched sir! It's coming right for us!" Lieutenant Richards yelled. "No time to..."

The ship shook violently as the blob of superheated plasma slammed into its port side. Titanium-A plating boiled away, exposing the destroyer's interior. The members of the bridge were thrown from their stations as flashing red lights filled their vision and klaxons wailed in alarm.

"Status!" Captain Lewis demanded, crawling back into his chair.

"Hull breaches on levels 20-42. Cryo-Chamber B is gone. Long range communications destroyed. Archer Missile Pods N to T melted. Engine A is going critical, shutting it down now"

"Where are those damn Covenant now?" Captain Lewis growled.

"Dead sir. The _Atom_ and _Dawn of Heaven_ got their shots off to late to save us from being fired upon." Lieutenant Richards answered.

"And what is the status of our allies?"

"The _Atom_ was hit by three plasma torpedoes. One of its MAC cannons was hit and it has a dozen breaches in its hull. Its engines went critical and it can only achieve ten percent efficiency. The _Dawn of Heaven_ was hit by two torpedoes, but because of its cross-bracing and honeycombing, there was no serious damage to the structure and few hull breaches." Plato answered.

"This has been one of the greatest UNSC victories in the war. Let's make it complete by decimating their ground troops. Tell the Marines they're up"


	4. Invasion

2008: February- A French citizen is arrested in America for holding public rallies trashing the American government. The French government, outraged, demands his release but, America refuses. Both sides build up there army, or in America's case, already being in war, divide their army's focus. Before war can break out the UN forces America to release the prisoner into French custody.

July- The war in Iraq ends as the last of America's troops withdraw.

2013: American President Rudy Giuliani makes American English the official language of America. (As of 2006 America has no official language. One must show basic knowledge in English in order to become a American citizen and it is used in all official business but it is not the official language of America, no language is.)

2017: The Two Day War starts between Russia and its neighbor Georgia. Named so because after two days of skirmishes the UN steps in and settled things peacefully.

2018: May to December- An all out war breaks out between Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda and Central African Republic over border disputes and border smuggling. After several months of trying to end the fighting with negotiations the UN ask America, Great Britain and France to send armed forces to put an end to the conflicts after a group of Kenyan soldiers slaughters eight-thousand Ethiopian citizens. The three countries agree and by the end of December the war is over.

2021: Tired of the tensions between nations and their inability to solve things without going to war, the UN increases its authority in affairs between countries and creates its own standing army.

2021-2027: Dozens of almost-wars are stopped by the UN and its new army. Several countries are wary of the new UN and their new strength.

2028: The Mexican economy crashes and Mexico is plunged into chaos.

2030: After a year and a half of complete chaos in Mexico, the UN in a surprise move takes control of the country and sells it to the highest bidder, America.

2032: All of Mexico, which was divided into seven separate territories, is annexed by America as the 51st-57th states. This makes America now the largest country in the world with less then 200,000 square miles of land more then Russia. And though still third in size of population it closes the gap between American and India, second in population, by twenty percent.

2035: There is a clash between environmentalist and Brazilian troops over the destruction of the rain forest, for the construction of badly needed homes. Humans overpopulation of Earth is now a major issue in the world. A census showed Earth's human population at 11,394,l93,456.

2041: January- Five of the worlds strongest and richest countries, the United States, Australia, France, Great Britain and Japan, fund the building of a city on the moon.

March- Not to be outdone Russia, China, India, Sweden, Ukraine and Finland start their own fund to build a city on the moon. The race is on.

2043: An American space shuttle, carrying five astronauts, lands on Mars and man finally sets foot on the Red Planet. However upon leaving the planet, complications arose in the engines, stranding the crew and leaving them to suffocate to death when the air supply went low.

2047: Announcing their success, America, Japan, Britain, France and Australia each send five hundred citizens to their city on the moon for a trial run. The City is essentially a large dome with rich soil and hundreds of trees and plants to generate oxygen. The sewage of the city runs into a complex filtering machine that takes out all impurities in the water so it can be reused, this way they'd never get low on water.

2048: The city on the moon is a success, called Star City because drawings of stars have five points and the city is owned by five nations. More people immigrate to the lunar city.

2049: April- Russia, China, India, Sweden, Ukraine and Finland, finish there city on the other side of the moon. It too is a success, though only a third of the size of Star City when it was first built. Their city, when translated from Russian to English, is called Lunar Hope.

August- Soon Star City has a population of over ten-thousand people. Dozens of additions have been added to it, expanding the city as far as possible across the moon.

2055: After six more years the two lunar cities have a population combined total of fifty-three thousand citizens. The eleven nations have restricted anymore immigration to the cities because of the over-crowding that was happening and the fact that most of the moons surface was covered with the two cities.

2056: Though the two lunar cities have slowed down the issue, overpopulation of Earth was still a major issue. Too help stall the problem several cities are built over the water and buildings are built taller.

2062: Russia tries to buy the other five nations out of the city. When the other countries refuse, they try taking it, claiming they spent the most money on it. Soon a war is about to break out. In order to stop the war, the UN steps in again. The UN takes control of Lunar Hope from all six of the nations and puts it under UN control. In a bold move, they also do the same to Star City, angering the five nations who built it and were getting along fine. American troops march on the UN headquarters in New York and demand the return of Star City to the five nations. However the UN refuses. A small skirmish goes on between the US troops and the UN guards. All heads of the UN are arrested and the UN is kicked out of their headquarters in the United States. The United States, Russia and Great Britain leave the United Nations.

2076: All the planets of the solar system had finally been explored by human eyes. An expedition had finally landed on Pluto and explored the small planet. There is no place in the solar system man has not been.

2078: The UN had been struggling on without the aid of Russia, Great Britain and the US. Those three countries use to pay most of the money the United Nations received. Not only that but they also provided the better equipment the United Nations army used. In an attempt to reconcile with the first, second and fourth strongest countries in the world (America, Russia and Great Britain respectively), the UN built three separate cities, two on Mars and one on Jupiter's moon, Io and then offered them to the three countries. America and Russia got the ones on Mars and Great Britain got the one on Io.

2089: The human population is spread throughout the last seven planets of the solar system, including any moons of the planets. Which is good because Earth wouldn't of been able to handle the 37,304,394,408 humans alive.

2109: After supplies sent to a new colony on Pluto was stolen the United Nations created the United Nations Space Command. This way the United Nations could exert more force in the other communities around the solar system.

2113: The United Earth Government is created to help create a stronger bond between the nations of Earth. It is also developed to regulate Earth in general, like inter-planet trade and colony immigration. This way no one country can control the happenings of the solar system. The UNSC is its military force, and helps enforce the laws.

2116: A census shows that American English is the most spoken language of humans, when combining primary and secondary speakers. Mandarin Chinese is the most spoken primarily but not many other then the Chinese know it.

2123: Overpopulation again is becoming another problem. Every relatively flat area in the solar system had been used as construction zones for the creation of human cities. Now, with over 67,343,456,783 people in the solar system, all those places have been taken.

2129: With a lot of prodding from America, the UEG makes American English the official language of the UEG, UNSC and any colonies founded by either of the two. This angers many other nations but there isn't much they can do.

2149: Several rebellious factors and countries have tried to undermine the authority of the UEG and UNSC but had all been effectively dealt with. However a new group, called the Koslovics, a group that wanted to return to the old ways of Communism, emerged with a hefty number of members.

2153: The UNSC forces and the Koslovics have engaged in several small space battles as Koslovic soldiers tried hijacking interplanetary ships and stealing their supplies.

2158: The Friedens, a fascist group, emerges from the anti-Koslovic feeling throughout the solar system.

2160: The Jovian Moons Campaign began. Jovian secessionist attacks on United Nations Colonial Advisors on Jupiter's moon Io led to three months of fighting between the Earth military and Jovian "Frieden" forces. Though this was not the first armed conflict in the solar system, it was easily one of the bloodiest, and is generally considered to be the spark of increased friction and militarization that followed.  
The Jovian Moons Campaign escalated tensions, as Earth's national governments—many of which sponsored colonies within the system—began fighting proxy wars off-planet. As these proxy wars continued, tensions on Earth mounted, leading to a number of armed conflicts on Earth itself.

2161: The UNSC is unable to stop all of the growing wars between the battling countries and their colonies. Many of the smaller and weaker countries joined together in order to battle powerful countries like Russia and the United States. The East African Protectorate, the West African Protectorate, the Arabian Protectorate and the South American Protectorate emerge from the constant wars as strong, unified countries.

2162: The Rain Forest Wars: Armed conflict ripped through South America, as Koslovic, Frieden, and UN forces all clashed over ideological differences, sparking additional conflicts off-planet.

2163: December: In a conflict that stemmed from the Rain Forest Wars, the three primary Earth factions clashed again, this time on Mars. A series of lightning strikes against Koslovic forces near the Argyre Planitia marked the first extra-terrestrial deployment of Marines. The campaign was an unquestionable success. As a result, future military doctrine favored large contingents of Marines for ground assaults and ship-boarding actions.

2164: With the success of it's Marine deployment on Mars, the first one outside of Earth, the UNSC expands it propaganda and intensifies its recruitment. A new section, called the Office of Navy Intelligence, is created to handle UNSC propaganda. With its increase in numbers the UNSC crushes Koslovic and Frieden on Earth and begins a sweep of the solar system to wipe out all remaining Koslovic and Frieden forces.

2170: By the end of the war, with the Koslovic and Frieden forces wiped out, the UEG and UNSC had to face a new problem. Over-population and a large military with no one to fight.

2171-2290: Hundreds of voyages were sent out into space, to travel beyond the solar system to find new planets for humans to populate. For the first several decades, communications were too poor to remain in contact with the crews sent out and they were never heard from again. Later on, even with better communications the voyages still failed, as they communicated to the crews for periods of time before listening to them die slowly of starvation, dehydration or suffocation, or listening to them die quickly by hull breaches or hitting meteors/asteroids. Solar systems were to far away for man to travel to it seemed.

2291: Shaw and Fujikawa create an engine that allows vessels to travel faster then light. The two men are labeled man's greatest thinkers to ever live and are paid billions to create several of the engines for UNSC use.

2310: The first "colony" vessel to have the Shaw/Fujikawa engine was built and rebuilt dozens of times before being deemed capable of traveling under tremendous pressure. Military warships are equipped with Shaw/Fujikawa engines as well. Once the crew was picked, tested and then approved, the ship, the _Colombus, _was launched, a long with a two destroyer escort. Conditions on Earth had deteriorated in the face of overpopulation, so hitching a ride out to a colony became an attractive option.  
Because faster than light (FTL) travel in this period was still fairly new and expensive, colonists and military personnel faced a stringent regimen of physical and mental testing. In theory, only the best-qualified citizens and soldiers were allowed to colonize "nearby" worlds. This was the birth of the Inner Colonies.

2325: The UNSC commandeers the warships of the nations of Earth and their colonies. The nations are only allowed merchant class vessels so as to prevent space battles between nations. The UNSC Navy is changed from being water based ships to space based ships. Water based ships are now considered part of the Army.

2331: First confirmed world colonized by humans is in the Vega Solar System, the closest solar system to the Sol System. The planets in the Vega System are similar to the Sol System, and a planet similar to Earth, called Terra, is settled by a population of three hundred. More colony ships are launched, beginning man's newest Manifest Destiny.

* * *

Summary: Earth is occupied by Covenant forces. Half of the human population has escaped underground while the other half is killed during the invasion. As Highcom figures out how to take their homeworld back from Covenant hands, ONI has their own ideas on how to handle it.

Getting an interesting offer, Corporal Christopher Benedetto joins an ONI project called OPERATION: Arcani. Meanwhile, the _Atom, _the _Dawn of Heaven_ and the _Aztec_ lead the first UNSC attack into Covenant territory. The Covenant, nervous about being on the defensive, release the Sharquoi onto the humans. But farther into the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy, something exist that can help the humans win the war or bring about their end quicker

Includes another Halo, two new species (one of them being the Sharquoi), some kick-ass battles and a Doom crossover for several chapters. Started after Halo: The Ghost of Onyx found its way into my hands but I'll try to include some things from that story into this one.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this story. Most of it is the result of Bungie. Some of it is mine, but since I haven't copyrighted the characters I can't do anything if you use them except leave you a very angry review.

Chapter 4 INVASION!

**0632 Hours January 3, 2553 (Military Calender) **

**Landing Zone, Somewhere on Etono, Covenant Held Planet **

Close to four hundred Pelicans and about one hundred Albatross Transports, escorted by five squadrons of Longswords, flew to the surface of the small planet below. The size of the planet was about 14,340 km in circumference. That was a little smaller then the planet Mercury in the Sol System.

The base that they would be assaulting was on the other side of the planet, and wasn't visible to any of the transports and fightercrafts flying to the surface. Most of the Pelicans were loaded down with the vehicles, with about four dozen of them holding the equipment needed to build a quick and strong base. The Albatross' were loaded down with extra men.

The first two Albatross transports to land let loose one hundred heavily armed Marines. They landed in a large clearing in a dense forest.

"First and Second Platoons secure the LZ. Recon Marines, find me that base." Colonel Portman yelled as soon as his foot hit the ground of the planet. Behind the Colonel, Major General Caden Valentin surveyed the area.

The planet reminded the Major General of Mars as the red planet approached its winter season. Mars could be negative two hundred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit at its coldest. While this planet, Etono, wasn't that cold, it was about seventy degrees below Fahrenheit. Tightly packed snow littered the entire planet. Large pine trees, their branches covered in snow, covered the planet in thick forest. Whatever water there was, was frozen solid, all the way to the bottom. The atmosphere was made of about eighty percent oxygen, sixteen percent nitrogen, three percent methane and one percent other.

Every Marine was given a specially made suit. Made up of several heat resistant materials, such as Pyreflect, and a ceramic plate made out of magnesia, they were a new line in Marine armor to help combat the Covenant. It was said the suits could take several plasma hits before the armor started to give way and the Marine was actually affected. The only downside was that all the fire resistant materials put together weighed more then the old Marine armor by almost ten pounds, and they were less effective against bullets, shrapnel and needlers. The Marines were also given white parkas, white kevlar fingerless gloves and white, thin snow pants. All weapons were covered in a white/light grey camo to better disguise it in the snowy landscape.

"Alright, engineers get to work. I want this base up as soon as possible."

* * *

**1020 Hours January 3, 2553 (Military Calender)**

**Alpha Base, Etono, Covenant Held Planet **

The group of twelve Recon Marines, SRS99C-S2 AM Sniper Rifles clutched in their hands came running over to the Major General.

"The base is about four and a half kilometers to the east. Fifteen feet high walls surround the entire compound, circular in shape and a circumference of about six kilometers. Shade turret every six meters, one thousand total, manned by Grunts. Guard towers every one hundred meters, each guard tower has two spotlights and is manned by three Jackals with Beam Rifles. There is only one entrance into the compound, a gate big enough for three Wraiths to pass through side by side. Thirty plasma AAs circle the base of the outer wall. A forest surrounds the whole compound, but there is open area between the edge of the forest and the compound walls, probably a good one hundred meters. In the forest away from the compound are about eight dozen sentry towers, placed strategically, with the farthest being a kilometer away and manned by two Jackals with Beam Rifles." The leader of the Recon group finished explaining.

"Jesus, these bastards don't take any chances do they?" Major General Cade asked. "We were told we'd be up against two thousand veterans and almost twenty-five thousand recruits"

The Recon Marines gave him a look of disbelief. That was a lot of Covenant, especially with those defenses they had to get over. And who knew how many vehicles they had hidden in that large fortress of theirs. With just nine-thousand soldiers, twelve Scorpions, twenty Alpha Wolfs, thirty-five Warthogs, one hundred APCs and almost one hundred pieces of artillery, it would be a tough effort.

UNSC artillery composed of three different types. The first form was the anti-aircraft artillery, which defended the stationary field artillery from air attack. The next was the howitzer, which fires at low angles, below 45 degrees. The final one was rocket artillery.

The AA artillery used two types of guns to get the job done. The first was the 'Slapper' which used a A.I. controlled pod carrying nine Argent V Missiles to knock enemy aircraft out of the air. The second was the 'Pounder', also known as a flak gun. The flak gun was controlled by a gunner or A.I., who fired highly explosives shells into the air, that exploded and showered shrapnel into any vehicle close by it. The AA artillery was mounted on the back of an extended Warthog, which was less maneuverable and had six wheels instead of four.

The howitzers came in three different variants. The first variant had a short and fatter barrel and fired large shells, about 150mm in size that needed to be reloaded manually. Before the round hit the ground it burst open and sprayed the area with shrapnel. The second variant had a skinny and longer barrel, and fired heavier 50 caliber rounds then Gauss Cannon mounted on the back of a Warthog fired, and like the Gauss Cannon, reloaded the rounds automatically. The third variant, a cross between the other two, shot a 100 caliber incendiary round that needed to be reloaded manually.

The rocket variant could shoot ASGM-10 Missiles, SSM-4 Cruiser Missiles, Scorpion Missiles and 102mm High Explosive Anti-Tank (same as the Spankers). Rocket artillery was mounted on the back of extended Warthogs, just like the AA artillery.

The 4th Armored Division still used Armored Personnel Carriers (APC) to transport its troops. Most used the Transport Warthog for this task, since the Warthog was fast and could carry eight men, including the driver and passenger. The 4th Armored Division did not use Transport Warthogs though, because the APCs were like their name stated, armored. They could carry 19 men, including sixteen in the back, one driving, one in the passenger seat and one manning the gun. Another reason why they still used it, it actually had a heavy machine gun, unlike the Transport Warthog, which could only rely on the Marines who sat in the back.

The APC had stopped being mass produced eighty years ago. However some were still produced for the 4th Armored. Modern day APCs, called AAMG-TD 31 were similar to their ancient counterparts. The AAMG-TD 31 looked like French VABs which were around in the twenty-first century. Except now they were bulkier and heavier, containing almost half a meter in Titanium plating, as well as a larger troop carrying capacity. There was also a large plow in the front of the vehicle, to clear away any wreckage that might be in front of the vehicle, that would limit its forward progress. While it couldn't match the speed of a Warthog (65 mph), or the speed of an Alpha Wolf (60 mph; Changing it from the 70 I originally had it), it was still faster then the Scorpion (28.6 mph), going at a speed of 52 mph.

The base the engineers were working on wasn't nearly as elaborate as the Covenant base, but then again the UNSC had only been on the planet for four hours. They had landed in a fairly large clearing in an area of the forest where the trees weren't so close together.

Most of said trees were cut down, forming the outer layer of their defenses, which was a large square palisade. Outside, surrounding the palisade was seven large bunkers and two smaller ones, all made of Instacrete. The two smaller bunkers rested on either side of the entrance into the palisade, which was (the entrance that is) big enough for a Scorpion and a Warthog to pass through side by side. Four of the other seven bunkers were created at the four corners of the square palisade, while the other three were placed in the middle of the three walls that didn't have the entrance. Each of the larger bunker was equipped with two M247s as well as six Marines, while the two small bunkers had that amount between them. Two of the Marines manned the M247s while three of the others were equipped with BR55s and the last was equipped with a sniper rifle.

The second layer was a square set of walls, consisting of Instacrete. The wall was five feet tall, with an extra two feet of thick, sharp barb wire sitting on top of it. There was also the fact that the wall was bristling with M247s, ready to pour lead into any Covenant who got pass the palisade.

The third layer of defense, wasn't really a layer of defense. It was just hundreds of combat barriers set up for those in the base to take cover behind incase the first two layers of defense were taken care of.

Technically, their first layer of defense were the hundred of snipers spread out around their perimeter. The snipers were sitting high up in trees and wearing Camouflage Cloaks to help conceal them from enemies, especially Jackals, who were known for their sharp eyesight. The Snipers were given enough food to last them two days, before another group of snipers were sent out to relieve them.

* * *

**1230 Hours January 3, 2553 (Military Calender)**

**Chamber of the Security Committee, Highcom Security Building of the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy, Alamo Military Base, Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy**

"How was the mission Ensign?" General Larway asked.

"The mission was easy sir" Ensign Miller replied.

"The Covenant didn't offer an problems then?" Marcus asked.

"No sir. They didn't realize we were there until the very end, when we were jumping out of system" the Ensign answered.

"And was the signal a trap?" Admiral Pride inquired.

"No ma'am. The Marines with me went into the Pelican and discovered ODST Company Sergeant Tink Carter, ODST Corporal Julio Valdez, ODST Lance Corporal Jerry Jones, Marine Private First Class Chips Dubbo and Flight Officer Jake Holmes." Miller explained.

"What were their conditions then?" General Larway questioned.

"They looked like they were on their death bed sir. The medics said they probably ran out of food and water two weeks before we arrived and that they were all lucky to be alive" Miller responded.

"Thank you Ensign, you are dismissed" Marcus waited for the woman to walk out of the room before turning to his partners. "It is a surprise they survived such a thing. We'll let them rehabilitate for two weeks before holding an award ceremony. Give the people something to cheer about"

The others murmured their agreement. Even though they had launched an offensive against the Covenant, people were still grim over the news that Earth was under Covenant control.

"Have we received any more updates from the _Atom_?" Major General Adamski enquired.

"We received one from Vice Admiral Andersen almost twenty minutes ago saying they were exiting slipspace early" Fleet Admiral Weinstein replied.

"Really? How early?" Adamski inquired.

"They arrived several hours ago actually" Weinstein stated.

"That is far ahead of schedule!" Adamski exclaimed.

"I know" Weinstein said.

"I figured we might as well bring this up, since we haven't discussed it yet. What are we suppose to do with this Arcani if he survives his mission to that Covenant city, High Charity?" Marcus asked.

"What else are we suppose to do but use him on missions" Jessica responded.

"But what kind of missions? Do we send him on your every day mission to save planets from invading Covenant like regular Marines?" Marcus demanded.

"Every type of mission. I'd gather he would seem to be like a Spartan II, except not as quick, strong and efficient, and more stealthy. Actually make that more like a Spartan III. I was told his armor is like a mix between an ODST body suit and a Spartan III SPI " Weinstein answered.

* * *

**1423 Hours January 3, 2553 (Military Calender) **

**Old Mombasa, East African Protectorate, Earth **

Spartan-117 unloaded his MA9B into the chest of the Brute Captain. The hairy beast fell to the ground with a heavy thud, and the remaining Brute roared in primal fury. Getting down on all fours, the last Brute started charging at the Spartan. John, never one to panic, simply raised his MA9B and fired the grenade resting in the lower barrel. The grenade flew in a straight path, hitting the charging Brute in the face and exploding in a burst of fire.

For some reason the Covenant's base of operation was in the East African Protectorate. Normally Highcom wouldn't be concerned with where the Covenant landed, other then to know where to send the Marines. However, this was the second time the Covenant had come down in this spot, meaning it had to of had some importance to the Covenant.

From the corner of his eye, Spartan-117 saw a black figure jump from roof to roof on his right. Normally he would be concerned, but the figure moving across the roof tops was human.

Said human activated the thrusters on his back, propelling him over the street below him and to a building across from where he previously was. The three Grunts on the roof cried out in surprise before lifting up their weapons and firing several shots from their plasma pistols and needlers.

Nathan activated his red shield, which sprung to life, deflecting the needlers and absorbing the green plasma. The heavy pistol grasped in his right hand was raised, firing off half a dozen shots. The three Grunts fell dead, their blue blood leaking onto the roof.

A blue armored Elite appeared in the doorway to the staircase leading into the rest of the building. It fired several shots into Nathan's shield, before moving quickly out of the doorway and avoiding the two heavy slugs Nathan fired. The beast fired several more shots before realizing it was fruitless because of the shield.

Nathan fired several shots, most of them misses. One clipped the Elite in the side but the others were dodged easily, leaving the Elite with most of its shield intact. The taller creature moved in close to the shield human, hoping to use its superior strength to its advantage.

Nathan dropped the pistol he was holding and took out the diamond club hanging from his side. He swung the club, catching the Elite in the face and sending it stumbling backward. Before the Elite could recover, Nathan slammed the club into the side of its neck, making it crack and bend at an unnatural angle. The Elite fell to the floor dead, its body making a dull thud as it landed.

Looking across the street to the building he just left, Nathan got a thumbs up from Centaur Ten, Corporal Jonas Fletcher. Glancing down to the street, he saw that the Spartan was already a block ahead of them and they needed to hurry up if they didn't want to get left behind.

Said Spartan grabbed the beam rifle of the lanky Jackal in front of him with his left hand. John jerked the gun forward, causing the Jackal to stumble forward. Using the MA9B clutched in his right hand, John clubbed the alien in the head, fracturing its brittle skull.

"You are coming up on the outskirts now" the deep, rough voice said in John's ear.

John didn't show any acknowledgment to the A.I. that ONI had insisted be his new replacement since Cortana was gone. John didn't like the A.I. for two reasons. One, it was ONI's A.I. first and wouldn't hesitate to go against mission briefings if any ONI spook told it too. The second reason was, the A.I. was far to arrogant for its own good. Not only was the thing egotistical, with its cocky attitude but it also LOOKED cocky; looking very much like James Bond with its holographic tuxedo and slicked back hair.

Master Chief reached the outskirts of Old Mombasa and stared, his mouth slightly open, at what lay before him. Millions of Covenant soldiers, with thousands of armored vehicles roamed about on the ground. Several Covenant warships, including an assault carrier, floated in the air above. And in the middle of it all was a hole, a hole that was getting wider by the day.

The Covenant were digging, but for what? And what would happen to the humans when they found it?


	5. Morale Victory, No Matter the Cost

Summary: Earth is occupied by Covenant forces. Half of the human population has escaped underground while the other half is killed during the invasion. As Highcom figures out how to take their homeworld back from Covenant hands, ONI has their own ideas on how to handle it.

Getting an interesting offer, Corporal Christopher Benedetto joins an ONI project called OPERATION: Arcani. Meanwhile, the _Atom, _the _Dawn of Heaven_ and the _Aztec_ lead the first UNSC attack into Covenant territory. The Covenant, nervous about being on the defensive, release the Sharquoi onto the humans. But farther into the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy, something exist that can help the humans win the war or bring about their end quicker

Includes another Halo, two new species (one of them being the Sharquoi), some kick-ass battles and a Doom crossover for several chapters. Started after Halo: The Ghost of Onyx found its way into my hands but I'll try to include some things from that story into this one.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this story. Most of it is the result of Bungie. Some of it is mine, but since I haven't copyrighted the characters I can't do anything if you use them except leave you a very angry review.

Chapter 5 Morale Victory, No Matter the Cost.

**1023 Hours. January 4, 2553 (Military Calender) **

**Old Mombasa, East African Protectorate, Earth**

Master Chief moved forward cautiously, his rifle held at the ready. Up ahead and around the bend was suppose to be a Covenant checkpoint. The numbers weren't known but if it was anything like the last checkpoint he encountered, there would be fifty Covenant soldiers. That included six Elites, six Brutes, eight Drones, ten Jackals, eighteen Grunts and two Hunters.

Behind him he heard the dull thuds of Minotaur Two's footsteps. The huge, hulking peace of metal was his supporting fire, and he couldn't have asked for a better one. It had the fire power of two Warthogs, and though wasn't as maneuverable, it only required one soldier and it was shielded.

Moving around the bend, Spartan-117 knew that his checkpoint contained the same amount of Covies as the last. Six plasma turrets were set up in a large hexagon with two stationary shield generators on either side of them. Extra crates of ammo also littered the checkpoint's perimeter with a deployable lookout tower floating in the middle; two Jackals with beam rifles in it.

John raised his BR55 Battle Rifle and aimed it at one of the Jackals sitting in the lookout tower. He pulled the trigger twice, pumping six rounds into the vulture looking creature. He shifted a little to the left and pulled the trigger again, letting six more bullets fly. With both scouts taken care of the large Minotaur moved into position, its guns starting to rotate. 2

In seconds hundreds of bullets started to fly. In a matter of seconds two of the plasma turrets blew up, all eight Drones were dead and half of the Grunts were cut down. The two Hunters charged forward, throwing their shields up and aiming their guns at the Minotaur. John rushed into a building, moving quickly up to the top. He burst onto the roof, three stories up, just in time to see the Hunters let loose their first salvo into the Minotaur.

The shield took both blows, flaring up brightly for several seconds before dimming back down. The Minotaur's guns continued to fire, destroying another turret and a Brute. The remaining Covies jumped behind cover, even the Grunts abandoned their plasma turrets. Master Chief looked at the Hunters to see if he could get a shot at their orange spots, but didn't have a good enough angle. He ran forward, jumping to the roof of the building next door, almost stumbling as he landed. Almost.

He approached the buildings edge, looking again at the two massive creatures below him. The Hunters were the only two Covenant not hiding behind something, unless you counted their huge shields. Aiming his rifle, John saw that he had a shot on one of the Hunters. A spot about the size of a fist, enough for any sniper, or Spartan, to hit.

His finger pulled quickly on the trigger several times, letting tracers rip through the air before slamming into the soft orange flesh of a Hunter. With a quick cry of pain, the creature lurched forward before falling flat on its face, dead.

The remaining Hunter growled in ager upon seeing its dead partner, turning toward where the shots came from. The Master Chief dove out of the way as the Hunters cannon tore through the section of roof he was just standing on. However, with its attention on the Demon, the Hunter left itself vulnerable to the Minotaur, which ripped through its midsection with ease. A gargled roar was accompanied by a loud thud, as the second Hunter fell to the street dead.

* * *

**1248 Hours. January 4, 2553 (Military Calender) **

**Alpha Base, Etono, Covenant Held Planet **

"Covenant convoy on its way to Alpha Base sir" a frantic voiced crackled over the radio.

"What? Give me details scout." Major General Caden all but shouted as he picked up the radio.

"Five Wraiths, four Shadows and flanked by ten Ghost. They are coming in from quadrant six-two-three-point-one-nine." the scout stated. "I'm asking for permission to engage"

"Negative soldier. You'd be killed before you got a second shot off" the Major General said, his voice hard. "You just hold tight, we'll take care of the convoy"

Placing the radio down, Caden surveyed those around him. "I would have liked better intelligence of the base, not to mention a better plan and better organization. However, it looks like we are going to have to up our timetable some"

"I want the Scorpions ready to roll. Get me some rockets on the northwest corner. Get a trio of Scorpions out of the confines of the base and ready to hit the convoy from the side" the Major General shouted. Lower ranking officers rushed around to complete his orders. "Gather up every piece of supply you can. Get the men prepared. We'll be marching into battle soon"

* * *

**1253 Hours. January 4, 2553 (Military Calender) **

**Bridge of _UNSC Aztec, _Orbit Around Etono, Covenant Held Planet **

"Message from the ground troops sir. A Covenant convoy is making its way toward their base. After they repel the attack they will move forward with the assault on the Covenant training facility"

Captain Lewis nodded at the news. The repair station, the_ Armory_, would be arriving in a few hours. They badly needed it to. Twice they had to tow the_ Atom_ out of the planets gravitational pull, which it had drifted into during their patrols of the planet. With its engine running at less then a quarter power, the supercarrier had become a burden.

They had all tried to make repairs to themselves of course, but it wasn't like they had a lot of supplies to work with. The three ship fleet was crippled, and low on ammunitions.

"We have a slipspace rupture at three-eight-nine-point-six-two sir" Chief Petty Officer Jones called out. "Sensors indicate what ever it is, its big"

"The _Armory_ isn't suppose to arrive for another three hours. That's what their Captain told us" Lewis muttered.

"Covenant destroyers sir! Half a dozen!" Chief Petty Officer Jones shouted.

"Fuck. Get Vice Admiral Andersen on the line" the Captain shouted.

The Vice Admiral's stern face appeared on the screen, his expression grim.

"Sir, we have to use the NOVA" Lewis stated.

"What? We are suppose to loll a Covenant fleet here! Not just a small detachment!" Andersen exclaimed, his voice showing his frustration.

"We can't last in battle sir. _The Atom_ is a sitting duck sir. We're almost out of archer missiles and none of our hulls can stand another round of plasma torpedoes. It's our only option to victory sir" Captain Lewis reasoned.

The Vice Admiral sighed wearily, his face set. "You're right Captain. Ready your MACs. We'll have to make sure if the NOVA doesn't finishes them off we will. Launching the nuke now"

The _Atom_ launched whatever was remaining of its Archer missile pods. It also launched whatever was sitting in its trash. Yet despite everything the supercarrier was launching at the Covenant force, Captain Lewis could still pinpoint the NOVA. It was almost the size of a Banshee and noticeable do to its odd, five sphere shape.

Covenant pin point lasers fired, destroying most of the archer missiles. The Covie destroyers seemed to ignore the garbage floating towards them and began charging their plasma torpedoes. Seraphs began swarming from the destroyer's hangars, racing toward the wounded human warships.

"They'll launch their plasma torpedoes in thirty seconds!" Plato shouted. "He has to activate the NOVA now!"

As if hearing him, the five nukes that made up the NOVA began to separate from each other. Just as the glowing turrets of the Covie destroyers began to fire their plasma the NOVA exploded. In a wave of energy the blast from the NOVA pushed the destroyers backwards, ripping off huge chunks of armor.

With the entire front half of the destroyers gone, the six ships drifted backwards. The blast from the NOVA had moved them in a backward motion, which they continued on. With nothing to impede their progress, the remaining halves of the six destroyers drifted toward the bright star of this solar system.

"Drain some power from the MACs but keep then at thirty percent power. I want to be at least partially prepared in case anymore Covenant ships try to get the jump on us" Captain Lewis ordered.

* * *

**1303 Hours. January 4, 2553 (Military Calender) **

**Alpha Base, Etono, Covenant Held Planet**

The entire division was tense, waiting for the Covenant convoy to make its presence known to the base. Most of the battalions were ready to roll on the Covenant fort, all they had to do was wait on this one convoy.

"We have contact" the lead Scorpion's driver broke over everyone's radio.

Two balls of plasma shot into the air. The first one hit fifty feet in front of the Scorpions. The second one hit into the lead Scorpion, turning it into nothing but molten slag. The two other Scorpions fired their rounds, causing a huge explosion to light up the woods thirty meters into the forest.

The Covenant returned fire, four balls of plasma shooting into the air. The Scorpion drivers quickly put their vehicles in motion, back pedaling from the balls of plasma shot at them. However, one of them was caught in the explosion. While the tank didn't blow up, its front tracks were melted, making it immobile and a sitting duck.

The two UNSC tanks fired again, another Wraith exploding in a shower of shrapnel. The remaining Wraiths shot again, each blob of plasma slamming into the immobile tanks. Plasma bolts hot from the trees, slamming into the palisade.

The last Scorpion tank tried to put up a fight, peppering the forest with, 50 caliber bullets mixed with an occasional burst from its main turret but soon it too was nothing but a warped looking chunk of metal.

"Get me a rocket squad. I want them to swoop around and take out those remaining Wraiths. Now!" the Major General shouted.

The Ghost came streaking out of the forest, littering the bunkers and palisade with plasma. The M247s set up in the bunkers opened fire, sending tracers flying through the air. With chunks of armor flying through the air, the Ghost continued their bombardment, incinerating the crew of one of the bunkers.

The wood of the palisades had been coated in frozen moisture, but with the continual bombardment, the layer of ice melted and the palisade caught fire. Another salvo of Wraith fire reached its zenith in the air. The balls of superheated plasma slammed into the base itself, turning the a handful of the metal "tents" use as sleeping quarters by Marines into nothing.

The other vehicles started to move out, Marines piling onto Warthogs and into APCs. The metal vehicles streamed through the entrance of the base, zooming into the woods. A few of the vehicles shot toward the Ghost, ripping them apart in a blue cloud and shower of purple shrapnel. The men in the bunkers gathered into APCs as the entire base was emptied of Marines and vehicles. They would be assaulting the Covenant base in a matter of minutes.

If only the warships in space hadn't wasted all of its missiles in the space battle. Firing MAC cannons at a planet was extremely hard, especially with accuracy and they would waste their badly needed MAC ammo doing so. They couldn't risk any of their Longswords or Pelicans to bombard the place, especially with the number of anti-air guns they had. So left it up to the Marines to destroy it. Of course there was the option of just leaving the base alone and blowing it up with the rest of the planet, but UNSC wanted to gain some of its moral back. Slaughtering a Covenant training facility, tough-as-nails Marines preventing a new generation of Covenant soldiers from entering the battlefield would be a huge moral for the Marines back home.

* * *

**1332 Hours. January 4, 2553 (Military Calender) **

**Aguriantos, Covenant Training Facility, Etono, Covenant Held Planet**

Kipik was one of the laziest of his kind. As a Unggoy that meant he was pretty damn lazy. Which was why instead of sitting diligently in his plasma turret on top of the wall, he was sleeping. Nothing ever happened on Etono. The worst that would happen was a pack of wild Mijad would try to climb the walls. Since Mijads were large carnivores who could bring down an Unggoy with one swipe of its paw, they had to be dealt with quickly. Sure some humans had landed on the planet only three cycles ago but from the stories he had heard humans were no problem.

Kipik was awoken from his sleep by a large explosion. Many more explosions began to sound as the sentry towers were blown up, mushrooms of fire and smoke filling the air before the towers toppled out of view.

Quickly Kipik clambered into his turret's seat. One by one the sentry towers were destroyed, each explosion getting closer and closer to the base. When the last tower was destroyed and the echoes of its fall faded from their ears, the Covenant defenders were left in a deafening silence. Their convoy hadn't been heard from since leaving, and now all their sentry towers were gone.

Kig'Yar snipers were frantically try to pick a target, their entire bodies swiveling back and forth. Some Sangheili frantically rushed their troops into defensive positions while others jumped into the vehicles that littered the bases interior. The Grunts shifted nervously, gripping their weapons tightly.

Loud cracks filled the air as Kig'Yar Snipers and Unggoy turret operators fell to the ground dead. Observing the trails left by the sniper's bullets the Kig'Yars, higher up in the guard towers started to return fire, their beam rifles ripping through the foliage.

'Booms' thundered throughout the base as fiery explosions seemed to burst from the ground. Human artillery was bombarding the base, hitting everything it possibly could. Grunts of pain filled the air as Covenant soldiers scrambled to into the buildings to find cover from the brutal assault. The Sangheili piloting the vehicles maneuvered them back into the hangers.

Kipik scrunched himself up in the turret seat, trying to get his head low enough where the turret prevented anyone from shooting it. The trail of one of the bullets appeared over his head, and he breathed a sigh of relief at having ducked.

It wasn't long before the human snipers and the Kig'Yar snipers stopped trading blows. The last of the Kig'Yars were dead, and the Unggoy were scrunched to low in their seats to expose themselves.

"What are you doing you worthless things? Fire into the trees!" a Sangheili Major yelled from the ground.

With a start, Kipik, along with all the other Unggoy controlled turrets, began to fire into the trees surrounding the base. Screams of pain littered the air, and Kipik knew their plasma fire was killing some filthy humans. One thousand plasma turrets firing at once was an impressive sight.

The trees caught fire, the plasma melting the frozen moisture on their barks. Cone shaped objects flew from the fiery trees, slamming into various turrets, making them explode in a shower of purple shrapnel. A dozen turrets were destroyed every second, but their were to many of them to stop the flow of plasma.

Soon the cone shaped objects were just flying at plasma turrets on a certain portion of the wall. Kipik looked to his left to see at least a hundred turrets nothing but smoking scraps of metal. The fire continued to spread, burning more and more trees.

A few Wraiths braved the exploding world that made up the inner base. They fired their super-heated balls of plasma into the woods. Secondary explosions ripped through the air, their orange colors signifying human vehicular explosions.

Then they began to pour from the trees. Led by forty Demons, they came charging forward with bellows of war and death. Their entire bodies covered in white, they jumped through the fiery mass of trees. The guns they held in their hands were raised and waved wildly. Muzzles flashed as the roaring buzz of hundreds of human projectile firearms filled the air.

Kipik swiveled his plasma turret and was about to start firing on the large pack of humans when a his left arm was sudden ripped off. Dropping to the ground he squealed in pain and stared at the stump the rest of his arm once occupied in horror. He had exposed himself to the enemy snipers and paid for it with his arm.

Kipik went into shock, barely noticing as hundreds of spiked objects attached to thick black ropes came flying over the wall. He didn't see as humans, their white and olive armor gleaming under the planet's sun, started to fill the space around him. The Unggoy didn't flinch as humans traded fire with Covenant warriors down on the ground. Searing plasma burning holes into human flesh and deadly bullets ripping holes into Covenant bodies.

Ghost streamed from the base to prevent the rest of the humans from charging in, and were successful in killing several score full, before human wheeled vehicles came flying through the inferno that was once the woods surrounding the base. Then it was a battle of metal, metal that either was ripped apart or melted into slag.

One human, though missing one of his arms and severely burned all over his torso, killed the gate operator. He then stumbled forward and hit the switch to open the bases gate. The Covenant warriors who tried to close the gate were littered with bullets. Humans were stubborn, and these Marines and Spartans had been sent on this suicide mission to open that gate. They wouldn't be denied.

Rumbling through, human tanks came pouring into the base, their long, circular turrets firing with reckless abandon. The rest of the Covenant vehicles came floating out of the hangars. Wraith's fired back, their balls of plasma arching in the air before exploding in a shower of plasma, leaving behind blobs of hot metal. Spectre's tried to swerve through the human ranks, but were to slow and soon found themselves overwhelmed. Shadow's offered quick cover, while their turrets bombarded the white figures in front of them. Banshees began to soar forward, rising high into the sky, before dive-bombing pockets of human fighters.

Grunt turret operators tried to help the base fighters but a group of Demon's was systematically circling around the wall, destroying every turret they came upon. Finished with the Ghost, human wheeled vehicles came flying through the open gate, their turrets ripping apart Covenant flesh and the thin armor of the Banshee. More humans came pouring into the base, in a never ending flow of white death.

In less then two hours, the humans, who fought with a vigor and ruthlessness and skills the Covenant trainees were never told they had, had overtaken the base. The last of the Unggoy turrets was finally unmanned, its owner laying in a pool of its own bright blue blood. The final Spectre had fell to the ground, its anti-gravity booster destroyed and its crew dead. The Wraiths were nothing more then large purple husk. The Banshees scraps of metal that littered the ground. All that was left was pockets of Covenant soldiers who hid in the depths of their training facility, praying they weren't discovered, and fighting fiercely when they were. However, they to were overwhelmed by the packs of Demons that wandered the hallways, hunting them down as if they were the dogs of hell.

The UNSC had their victory. It had cost them 3,671 Marines and two Spartans. They had lost eleven of their twelve Scorpions, fourteen of their twenty Alpha Wolfs, thirty-one of their thirty five Warthogs, twenty-six of their hundred APCs and thirteen of their hundred artillery. Not to mention the 4,492 who had suffer some type of injury, mostly plasma burns.

* * *

I'm mainly focusing on my Harry Potter series right now. This fic, along with my Gears of War one, are second priorities. It should get interesting in the next few chapters. The next two or three chapters will focus mainly on Christopher, Mikey and Dominique. 


	6. Allies?

It's kind of short, but chapters are probably going to be months apart, and if I tried to fit everything I wanted into this chapter, it would have been another two weeks before I posted this up.

Chapter 6 Allies?

**0023 Hours January 10, 2553 (Military Calender) **

**Bridge of UNSC Prowler _Night Crawler_, Substance System. **

"We're exiting slipspace now"

Chris, along with all the ODST, focused their view in front of them. As the warship came out of slipspace, the star-spotted black void that was regular space became visible. In the center of their view was the large, floating Delta Halo.

"I've got Covenant readings. At least sixty ships" the Lieutenant called out from his console.

The entire contingent flinched at that. A UNSC prowler against sixty Covenant starships? That was like pitting an ant against a human.

Most of the ships were firing their plasma weapons at High Charity as it floated just outsides Halo's gravity pull. One of the ships, the largest one, broke off from the rest of the group and started to approach the prowler.

"We've been detected." Rivers cried out. "They are trying to open communications. I'm going to patch them through"

"Rico? Haven't seen your scraggly ass since Reach"

Everyone froze at that voice. It was one of the most recognizable voices in the entire UNSC.

"Sergeant Major Johnson?" Captain Rico asked in shocked. "You were confirmed KIA when the Chief made it back to Earth and said last he'd seen you you were in Brute clutches!"

"Hell, Captain, it'll take a lot more then a pack of some filthy apes to kill Master Sergeant A. J. Johnson" Johnson replied.

The view screen blinked on, and the face of Johnson filled up most of the screen, a cigar in his mouth. Moving backwards, the Master Sergeant seemed to smile at the gasp that swept the prowler. Johnson, along with also confirmed KIA Commander Miranda Keyes, were standing on a Covenant bridge full of Elites.

"Johnson, what the hell is going on?" Rico asked in shock.

"Captain meet our new allies," Commander Keyes spoke up for the first time.

"Impossible. Right before we left Earth I killed several of the bastards myself after they slaughtered my squad."

An Elite who wore odd looking armor stepped forward. "Those would be our brothers who are still blinded by the Prophets lies. Those of us you see here do not follow to Prophets. Not after what they did to us"

"The Prophet of Truth ordered the extermination of the Elites on Delta Halo, High Charity and the fleets that occupied the area." Keyes explained to the confused ODST.

"After the firing of the Holy Ring was halted, Truth stopped the Civil War from spreading pass this area of space. Told the rest of the Covenant that we were the ones who instigated the war. Now we are believed to be heretics by our own brothers" the fancy-armor wearing Elite stated sadly.

"We can discuss this later. You need to stop glassing High Charity. We've been sent to retrieve Cortana" Rico explained quickly.

Johnson started to cough on his cigar. "The Chief left her behind?" he growled.

"She was to blow up_ In Amber Clad_ in case you guys couldn't stop the firing" Lieutenant Rivers, who had remained quiet throughout the entire conversation, finally spoke up. "Highcom and the Chief want her back"

"Arbiter, you have to order your fleet to stop" Johnson commanded. "Cortana is the smartest A.I. to ever be built. She could probably pilot this entire fleet into victory if she wanted"

One of the other Elites, this one only having half a jaw, opened its mouth. No one spoke that way to an Arbiter, who were the holiest of warriors for Sangheili. The Arbiter were one of the few ideals that existed from their old culture, before they joined the Covenant. However, before Half-Jaw could speak the Arbiter spoke up.

"Very well. Tell the rest of the fleet to stop the bombardment. We'll give you half a click...that is to say one hour to retrieve... her"

The view screen went off, and the Marines and Navy Lieutenant all seemed a little dazed at the turn of events.

"Nothing we can do now but trust them. No matter how much it pains us" Rico said, his voice tinged with frustration and resignation.

"Turning off the cloaking device now. Increasing engine speeds to their maximum." Rivers said, describing everything she was doing.

"Can you believe it?" Mikey asked quietly as the prowler edged pass the large Covenant carrier. "Allies with a portion of squid-faces?"

"If it is true, then its helpful. I mean, I don't forgive them for anything they've done to us, but its a relief because it takes a chunk out of the Covenant's army and adds it to our own" Chris explained, his intelligence overruling his emotions.

"I'll fight beside them for now. But when this war is over, they'll have to pay for their sins just like the rest of the Covenant" Mikey stated vehemently.

"If we are in any shape to dish out the punishment" Dominique muttered.

"Always thinking on the bright side." Chris's sarcasm was evident. "Its one of the reasons I like you Dominique. Really it is"

The engines hummed louder as the small ship got closer and closer to the behemoth that was High Charity. Most of it was glowing red and looked like nothing more then warped slag. However, there was one large chunk of unscathed surface. Several large hangars could be seen, the rectangular holes littering the non-melted metal.

The sleek prowler edged its way to a random hangar, slowing its speed down. With practice ease Lieutenant Rivers maneuvered the prowler into the bay, through the gravity shield and set it down with ease.

Captain Rico turned toward the twenty-four men and women around him. "Schmidt, Goldberg, Simpson and Jackson I want you four staying here. Nothing that isn't human sets foot on this ship. Understood?"

"Sir, yes sir" the four men snapped.

"Good. The rest of you are with me. Benedetto you've got point."

Chris raised his silenced MA5B and approached the loading ramp. His arm snapped forward, hitting the door open button. With a quiet 'hiss' the loading ramp opened, landing on the ground with a low thud.

With slow steps, Chris worked his way down the ramp, swinging his gun and gaze back and forth. It was hard to see into the far corners of the room, after all a dark red glow was all that illuminated the hangar.  
"Clear" he called out.

As the rest of the squad made its way out of the prowler, Chris surveyed the hangar bay. Destroyed Phantoms, Seraphs and Banshees littered the hangar. The purple walls and floor had overgrowths of what looked like flesh, it even jiggled and pulsated as if it was alive. Then again, hearing everything he did about the Flood, he wouldn't be surprised if it was alive.

"There should be a terminal over by the cargo door" the Captain said, the schematics for the general layouts of all Covenant designs scrolling in front of his eyes.

The large cargo door was easy to spot over the piles of destroyed Covenant vehicles. It had to be easily seen because Scarabs were suppose to be able to fit through it, which showed you how large it was suppose to be. Cargo holds generally held Covenant ground vehicles, which were transported to hangars through a large hallway.

"I have the terminal in sight sir" Chris called out as he walked around a Seraph that was torn in two. "I don't think we'll be able to access it"

The rest of the squad came out from behind the destroyed Seraph and looked at the terminal. It look liked it had blown up, and the parts of it left were sparking. The cargo door itself was halfway open, the hallway behind it an eerie black.

"The nearest terminal that we know of is probably in the cargo hold" Captain Rico stated grimly. "We have no choice. Benedetto your still on point"

With a curt nod, Chris approached the crack between the cargo hold doors. Beyond that doorway was a large hallway which would then open up into the cargo hold. He approached it quickly, his aim never swaying from the opening. Behind him the ODST Marines were constantly scanning the surrounding areas, straining their ears for anything.

Taking a deep breath, Chris turned his helmet flashlight on and peered through the doorway. While the hangar had overgrowths of that fleshy material, the walls and floors that he could see were completely covered in it.

Steeling his nerves, the Arcani stepped into the large hallway. He couldn't see anything but what his flashlight shown on. He frantically looked around him, the light from his helmet barely illuminating the vast darkness.

The others entered behind him, their lights criss-crossing and blanketing the area around them in light. Soon all twenty-one Marines were inside the darkened corridor, unconsciously staying as close to each other as possible.

"Lead the way Benedetto" Rico ordered softly.

Chris glanced back sharply, hearing the hidden fear in the Captain's voice. With a quick nod he started to walk forward. His light shined directly in front of him, stretching for almost thirty feet before it was swallowed up by the absolute darkness. The other fell into formation behind him, their lights sweeping from side to side.

"Reeeeeooooowwwwwwrrrr"

Everyone stopped in their tracks, their bodies tensed. The noise echoed around them, seemingly coming from everywhere at once. The guns in their hands were held tighter, knuckles turning white from the strength of their grips.

"Don't stop. The faster we are out of here the better" Rico muttered quickly.

The others seemed to agree, their feet moving again at a quick pace. Dozens of sounds assaulted them; of creatures crawling, others slowly walking as if in a daze. Groans of hunger and pain, moans of suffering and desire; the symphony of noise drifted from the darkness like a blanket being pulled over their ears.

A scream erupted from behind them, causing the entire group to spin around swiftly. One of the ODST had a small, bulbous creature on his back, clinging to him withs its slimy tentacles.

"Get it off me! Get it off me!" he shouted, repeating the same phrase over and over again, as he flailed about.

"Stand still damn it" Captain Rico urged. The Captain swiftly pulled out his combat knife, jabbing it into the creature and causing it to explode. With horror, they could see that the little thing's tentacles had penetrated through the ODST armor and was beginning to make its way through the skin.

Suddenly something catapulted itself out of the darkness, flying through the air with a wretched screech. With speed few knew he had, Chris spun quickly on the spot, emptying a quarter of his clip into the flying creature. It seemed to loose its momentum, falling to the ground dead.

With a startled gasp escaping his lips, Chris looked at the forms of dozens of these weird creatures. While they had been distracted by the ODST and the little creature that had attacked him, these deadly creatures had gotten closer and closer with each step, their movements hidden by the dark.

Christopher raised his gun again, his finger jammed frantically on the trigger. The others spun to join him in the attack, and only then did they realize that they had been surrounded. Cries of surprised were followed by the chatter of gunfire.

With shrieks resonating from their decaying lips, the creatures, these Flood, threw themselves forward, their tentacle/arms whipping through the air. They fell by the dozens, tracers tearing through their soft flesh.

Yet, for every one that was killed, another four took its place. The Flood had numbers on their side, after all hundreds of millions of Covenant lived on High Charity. They would run out of ammo a lot sooner then the Flood would run out of fighters to throw at them.

"Benedetto, move to the terminal by yourself. The rest of us will try to make it back to the ship" Captain Rico ordered.

"Sir?" Mikey asked uncertainly, ejecting an empty clip from his gun. The Lance Corporal slammed a new clip into the rifle before raising it and raining bullets upon the advancing wall of mutated flesh.

"Are we just going to leave Benedetto on his own?" Dominique questioned. She may not have liked the man, but he was still a friend, somewhat.

"He can handle these things better then we can" Rico shouted. "Now get moving Benedetto!"

Chris nodded his head and stepped away from the small circle the ODST had made when surrounded. When the magazine in his Assault Rifle fired its last round, he let the weapon drop from his hands, swinging erratically on its shoulder strap. A grenade was grabbed, primed and tossed quicker then some eject an empty clip from their guns. The sawed off shotgun on his back was whipped out of its straps and positioned comfortably in his hands.

With dull 'whump' the frag blew a large chunk in the advancing things. Moving forward, the shotgun roared to life, blasting through Flood as if they were paper. Ducking a flailing tentacle, the Arcani smashed the stock of his gun into the chest of a particularly burly Flood. The metal stock easily punctured the thing's chest cavity, crushing it and causing the creature to fall down, immobile.

Using his new strength, speed and reflexes, Chris worked his way through the crowd of Flood, weaving between flailing appendages and charging bodies. He made his way through the large corridor, his headlight illuminating only the immediate space in front of him. That left him using nothing but his instincts to detect the hundreds of Flood who were literally throwing themselves at him, their bodies hard to see in the dark abyss.

If he was a Spartan II he could have simply just powered his way through the Flood, using his sheer strength and weight (body and armor) to crush the soft flesh with simple jabs of his hand. Not to mention, Mjolnir armor, according to the Master Chief, could take several hits from a Flood tentacle before the shield died down and the armor was even affected.

He didn't have such pleasure. Already they surrounded him, clawing at him, trying to grab him, to bring him into their midst. Every movement of his body was violent, sending elbows, feet and knees into anything he could. Chris didn't know if he'd be able to make it to Cortana.

The Captain was right when he said Chris would have a better shot on his own. He could move quicker then the others and his body could take more punishment. With the limited supply of ammo, the ODST would have been overwhelmed in minutes with no other way to defend themselves. At least this way Chris could move at an accelerated pace, and waste his ammo only on keeping himself alive and not others.

However, just because he would have a better shot on his own, didn't mean he'd make it. Side-stepping a fanatic combat form, Chris was nailed in the side by a thick tentacle. The blow sent him staggering to the side. Another tentacle crashed into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Another hit him in the back. One in the leg. One in the arm, fracturing his radius.

Chris collapsed, looking up into nothing but these mutated faces of Elites, Brutes and even a former Marine. This was how he would die. Not in a hail of plasma. Not in a heroic last stand, defending humanity with every fiber of his being. Instead he would die surrounding by creatures out of a horror film. Failing to retrieve a series of computer codes that could talk and think for itself.

* * *

Spartan IIs:

John-117: Arrived several weeks into the Covenant's occupation of Earth, fighting with the rest of Earth's resistance to take back the planet.

Nicole-150(Changed from 458): Recalled to _Alamo_ from assassination attempt on the Prophet of Grief after Reach was destroyed.

Josh-056: Hijacked Covenant prowler before the glassing of Reach and after picking up James-029, fell back to the _Alamo_.

James-029: Doomed to drift throughout space until dead, James was rescued by Josh-056, before they fell back to the _Alamo_.

Kelly-087: Kidnapped by Doctor Halsey, the fate of Kelly-087 is unknown.

Linda-058: Tasked with guarding the UNSC headquarters in Australia, went underground with the rest of Earth's population.

Fred-104: Tasked with guarding the UNSC headquarters in Australia, went underground with the rest of Earth's population.

Will-043: Tasked with guarding the UNSC headquarters in Australia, went underground with the rest of Earth's population.

Kyle-127: Recalled to _Alamo_ when the UNSC shipyard he was aiding in guarding was destroyed by the Covenant.

Maria-009: Recalled to _Alamo_ when the UNSC shipyard she was aiding in guarding was destroyed by the Covenant.

Spartan IIAs:

Two hundred Spartan IIAs were created before the funding was cut from the program. They are second-generation Spartan IIs and are 32 years old, compared to first generation Spartan IIs who are 41. The procedures used on them were toned down a bit, to insure more survived so their reflexes, strength and resilience aren't at the levels of Spartan IIs; they are 95 percent the abilities of a Spartan II. They do not wear Mjolnir armor do to their expense and instead wear Gungnir armor, which is a slimmed down version of the Mjolnir, with half the shield power and half the cost. As of 2553 only one hundred and thirteen of them are left, with thirty-eight of them in Covenant territory, having assisted in the capture of Etono.

Spartan IIIs:

Cheaper, faster to train and expendable. That was the purpose of Spartan IIIs, because Spartan IIs, while the ultimate warriors, took to much money too train, and too much time. They wear SPI armor, which is similar to ODST armor in its durability, except it used hardened plates instead of kevlar, and photo-reactive panels to make the wearer become like a chameleon. Their abilities are 80 of a Spartan II. Used over Spartan IIAs for their numbers, their stealth abilities, and the fact that they are easier to "make". Alpha and Beta company were both killed, and Gamma is in active duty. The training of Delta has just begun. Gamma Company is only fourteen years old and consist of two-hundred and thirty-two members still alive out of the original three hundred.

Arcani:

Formed to be the sword of the Office of Naval Intelligence, the Arcani compromises the best of the ODST, each of whom were genetically altered to make them faster and stronger. While not at the levels of Spartan IIs or even Spartan IIAs, they are on the same level as a Spartan III at the age of fifteen. Equipped with armor that can turn the user invisible for a short period of time, and enough guns to kill a small platoon, the Arcani were formed to be assassins. Assassins who would be able to get a board a Covenant ship and kill its commander. Whether or not they survived is irrelevant to ONI, as long as the job is completed.


End file.
